Reserve guard Amedeo Della Valle is leaving the Ohio State men's basketball team and returning home to Italy to play professionally in Europe, he announced on his Twitter account today.

Della Valle was at Ohio State for two seasons after playing his final year of high school at Findlay Prep in Nevada. He averaged 4.0 points in 33 games this season with the Buckeyes as a three-point specialist and shot 32.4 percent (24 of 74) from behind the arc.

With McDonald's All-American guard D'Angelo Russell arriving next season and freshman Kam Williams coming off a redshirt, Della Valle's chances for playing time would not have improved.

Della Valle did not respond to messages from The Dispatch seeking comment but posted on Twitter that “I wouldn’t trade this experience with anything else, B1G Champions, run to the Elite 8, the 12-0 year, man was that special. First of all Mom, Dad, than you for being on my side. I would like to thank no only my teammates, but also the coaching staff that really helped me improve. You know without all the hard work I wouldn’t have been able to win the MVP in Europe and compete in the B1G.

“To my friends, THANK YOU. You guys made it special for me and will always have you for the rest of my life. I want to thank the best fans in the land. It is now time for me to begin new experiences as I decided to head back to Europe to continue to play PRO basketball.”

Ohio State coach Thad Matta said, “I could not be happier for him. He gave us everything he had in his two years here. He's going to play professional basketball in Italy. We are excited for him.”